Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Big Jump in New Home Sales; President's Health Reform Push; Young, Sick and Uninsured; Militaries Moving Toward Unmanned Planes; Home Sales Stats Boosted by Foreclosures; What's Next for Citizen Palin?; Talks with China Begin

Aired July 27, 2009 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Monday, July 27th, and here are the top stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Congress won't meet President Obama's deadline to overhaul health care. The Senate stalls. In the House, Blue Dog Democrats get sudden sticker shot.

Targeting terrorists with a joystick, how an operator in Nevada can take part in a war on the other side of the world.

And get paid to get rid of your gas-guzzler. The government's Cash for Clunkers program picking up speed today.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

How about this, a big jump in new home sales? That tops our look at issue number one, the economy. The CNN Money Team is all over it.

Our Susan Lisovicz live at the New York Stock Exchange, and CNN's Christine Romans is at our bureau in New York.

Susan, first to you.

Wow! Walk us, talk us through theses numbers.

And of course, Christine, jump in any time you'd like.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you should have heard Heidi when I was telling her. She said, "What?"

HARRIS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: Because she had just been on the air saying that the estimate for new home sales was for an increase of 2.3 percent. Instead, that number came in 11 percent, and that is the biggest monthly, month-to-month jump that we've seen since late 2000.

And, of course, you know, this comes with hefty price declines. The year-over-year decline for a new home is down in the vicinity of 12 percent. But the bottom line, Tony Harris, is that we are seeing a trend here that is encouraging, three months now of increases both in new home sales and existing home sales, which is the broadest part of the housing market. And another thing we saw with the June housing number is that the monthly supplies, the inventory, which was so fat, something that has to be worked down, is now something like eight months, about an eight- and-a-half-month supply. You know, compared to earlier this year, when it was twelve-and-a-half-months inventory. So, you want to work it down. A health market is considered about five months.

In any case, any company ties for the housing market is on fire right now. I'm looking at Hovnanian shares. They're up six percent. The broader market is down, but obviously these companies are finding something very encouraging.

HARRIS: Yes.

And Christine, does this in some way, shape or form mean that the banks are starting to loosen up on credit here and some lending? Because I would like to think that's the case.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I think there are -- we've been discussing this around here. We think there's a lot of investor-tied first time home buyers here.

HARRIS: Yes.

ROMANS: First time homebuyers who have been cobbling all their money together. They have an $8,000 tax credit.

And mortgage rates, remember, if you look back how long it takes to actually book the sale, right, if you look back at where the trough was on mortgage rates maybe six weeks ago, two months ago, you can see why some of those are now actually being booked as sales for existing homes and for new homes, because mortgage rates were very low. People who had good credit or had money to spend were spending it.

We know that a lot of the home sales that we've seen so far have been -- not a lot of them, I'd say maybe a quarter of them have been distressed, or up to a half of them have been distressed home sales. So that means, in some cases, those are investors who have money who are going in. So, I don't know how much of it is first-time homebuyers, how much of it is builders trying to clear the lots, but there's some activity.

But you know, Susan, I was looking at the number too. It's 21 percent below last June. So we know that it's much better than last month, but we know that still, year on year, home sales are still down pretty significantly, aren't they?

LISOVICZ: Yes. I mean, it's all relative.

ROMANS: Right.

LISOVICZ: The housing market is weak. It still has a ways to go. But it is encouraging. And, you know, this is something that -- this is where I think we all first saw that the U.S. economy was in trouble.

HARRIS: Right. Right.

ROMANS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: We saw this bubble and it burst. We had several years of just record sales.

HARRIS: Right.

LISOVICZ: And it burst, and then the credit bubble burst right after that. And we're working our way slowly out of it, but this is encouraging, because you're starting to see, as Christine mentioned, activity.

HARRIS: Ladies, appreciate it. Thank you. We want to get to -- maybe next time we get together we'll talk about earnings season, how it's going so far. And I know this is another big week for earnings reports.

LISOVICZ: Oh yes.

HARRIS: Ladies, good to see you. Thank you.

ROMANS: Bye Tony.

LISOVICZ: Thank you.

HARRIS: Several key financial indicators coming out this week. Tomorrow, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index. We'll show where the housing prices stand.

And then on Wednesday, the Fed's Beige Book comes out. What's the Beige Book? Well, it provides a snapshot of regional economic conditions.

And then on Thursday, we have the jobless claims. And Friday, the Gross Domestic Product report. As you know, the GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity. Analysts will be watching for more signs that the pace of the economic decline is slowing.

A busy week ahead in the fight over health care reform. President Obama tries to build public support with visits to North Carolina and Virginia, and he keeps pushing Congress despite delays and missed deadlines.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us.

And Suzanne, boy, after last week, at the end of last week, for this president, it is back on message, and the message is health care reform.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is, Tony. It's health care reform.

We just got out of the briefing. It's kind of an off-camera, on- the-record briefing with the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, a gaggle, if you will. So he gave us an update on all of this, and he sad that the president is not at this moment planning to call lawmakers or sit down with lawmakers over this issue, but it is going to start all in earnest.

Once again, tomorrow he's going to be making some sort of a town hall, if you will, a speech, before the AARP. He's going to be traveling.

One of the things they're trying to emphasize, Tony, is that they say, look, 80 percent of this we're in agreement, we're getting this thing done. It's the other 20 percent, but that's the hard 20 percent.

And Robert Gibbs said, look, you know what? There was a big hullabaloo that you guys made about a month ago when he went to go visit with the doctors, and the doctors were not in support of a lot of the plans that were being put forth. He says now its got the doctors on board, we've got the hospitals on board. That we have a lot of progress that's being made.

And we asked him about the Senate Finance Committee, however. Are they going to have something that is ready to go that this president can approve? And he said, well, they're still optimistic, but in his words, they don't expect him to burst anything this week.

So, we see this is a White House and a president that has become a little bit more patient, that is stepping back here, that is obviously continuing this public campaign. He's also going to be doing that private negotiating, that massaging, if you will. But they have learned that they can't necessarily, if they say this is the deadline, that that's what's going to happen.

HARRIS: Well, and Suzanne, we understand there is some new information on the situation that really burst forward at the end, sort of the middle and to the end of last week with Professor Louis Henry Gates and the Cambridge police.

What's the latest on that?

MALVEAUX: Well, there is going to be a meeting here at the White House. Robert Gibbs says it's expected to happen here, this week. And, as promised, as everybody's been talking about, they're going to sit down, the three of them, Professor Gates, the president, Sergeant Crowley, and have a beer, or a get-together.

We understand that the president drinks Budweiser. At least that's what Gibbs said. So that's what he's going to have. They said that Crowley asked for a Blue Moon. That's what he's going to have. And Gates doesn't apparently drink, but they're all going to get here together, Tony, at the White House this week and hash all of this out.

HARRIS: OK.

MALVEAUX: And there's probably going to be some media access, because we asked about that as well, is there going to be any kind of opportunity for any of us to talk to those? Are we going to see pictures? I think we might have some sort of picture with the three of them together in some form.

HARRIS: OK. Can't we all just get along?

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.

Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

HARRIS: The health care reform debate is putting a spotlight on uninsured Americans. Some of them are younger people who don't think they need insurance.

As CNN chief national correspondent John King reports, that can be an expensive mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gregory Rose is seven months into his new life. The feeling of invincibility that comes with being 23 shattered, and even a few simple steps became unbearable.

GREGORY ROSE, CANCER PATIENT: Each step from my back to the ball and socket in your hip was, like, on fire, grinding. I know that kind of pain I've never felt like that before. They tested my blood, and my white blood cell count was over 62,000, which for a normal person is 5 to 10.

KING: Leukemia, diagnosed finals week, a shock to a young man whose plan is to pay down his student loans then worry about health care.

ROSE: Being healthy, I figure going a little ways without health insurance should be OK, but got caught (ph).

KING: The JPS Cancer Center is part of a Fort Worth area public hospital network that not only has given Rose care, including five cycles of chemotherapy, but also helped him navigate the dizzying health care bureaucracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you able to pay your bills with your check for the most part?

ROSE: Just my rent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just your rent. OK.

KING: First Medicaid, then Social Security disability payments. Next, a painful lesson. In Texas, the modest income from Social Security put Gregory over the limit to receive Medicaid.

ROSE: Now I have no insurance again.

KING: No insurance, but a bagful of medications that run more than $5,000 a month. ROSE: Every day. Every day.

KING: And the prospect, if the cancer comes back, of much more daunting expenses.

ROSE: The bone marrow testing alone costs, like, $300,000. That's just the testing part of it. At least that's what I was told.

KING: Eight hundred thousand patients pass through JPS every year. Fewer than seven percent of them have private health insurance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got surgery into three...

KING: Those here who do have coverage are likely on Medicare or Medicaid, and when JPS CEO Robert Earley, and chief of medicine Dr. Gary Floyd hear the president promise to squeeze billions in savings from those federal programs, they worry that, among other things, it could exacerbate an already acute doctor shortage in Texas.

DR. GARY FLOYD, JPS HEALTH NETWORK: In Texas, we have a significant problem with Medicaid. Only 38 percent of our physicians participate in Medicaid programs. So, if we start squeezing the payment rates down or freezing them, we are going to see fewer and fewer physicians who will want to participate in those programs.

KING: While public hospitals like JPS see the bulk of the uninsured, Dr. Cara East also sees a steady flow when Baylor Medical Center in Dallas advertises for new clinical research studies.

DR. CARA EAST, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: They will come to us knowing they have high blood pressure and haven't been on medicine for two years, and absolutely the trial provides those medicines. So that is an option for that person.

We even had a gentleman come to us one time who didn't have health insurance, and I always ask them, well, you know, "Charlie, why don't you have that?" And he -- I said, "What do you do?" He runs an insurance agency. And I went, "What?" And he said, "Well, I can't afford it."

KING: Gregory Rose proudly displays a sign of his political allegiance. But as he watches the debate in Washington, he is more and more frustrated.

ROSE: Typical Washington fight.

KING: His first reflex is to blame Republicans, but Rose knows Democrats not only have the White House, but big majorities in the House and Senate. He says Democrats fighting among themselves over how to pay for reforms should spend some time in his shoes.

ROSE: They really need to get their heads together and get their acts straight. With those majorities in place, things should be happening. If they don't get it done, there's going to be a lot of people that's going to be hurting because of it.

KING: John King, CNN, Fort Worth, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, we just learned -- this just into CNN -- we just learned that the Cambridge Police Department is scheduling a news conference, next hour, the top of the hour, noon Eastern Time. We will of course bring that to you live.

We just learned from White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux just moments ago that Professor Gates, Sergeant Crowley and President Obama plan to meet at the White House this week. Don't know exactly what day, but that meeting will happen, where the men will work through the issues of Professor Gates' arrest.

But before all of that, a news conference from the Cambridge Police Department, scheduled for noon Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Of course we'll bring it to you live.

Still to come, Rob Marciano. Boy, we're going to be talking about the cleanup after severe storms slamming my home state. Rob will have the latest. He's working the maps right now.

And spacewalk number five. We are live from outer space next. What's going on there?

Next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Take a look here. It is their last spacewalk before heading home.

Are these live pictures. Yes. I believe they are from NASA TV.

OK, great. Live pictures. The word from the control room was heck, yes.

Astronauts Christopher Cassidy and Thomas Marshburn from Shuttle Endeavour have several things to accomplish today, including installing new TV cameras on a new porch on the International Space Station. This is the fifth spacewalk of Endeavour's 16-day mission. Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the station tomorrow.

Good looking pictures, as always. Man, it's amazing that we get that up-close look at what's going on in the middle of a spacewalk.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, some critics say the Cash for Clunkers program is environmentally counterproductive, but it's still shifting into high gear today.

CNN's Gerri Willis has details you need to know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Gas is getting cheaper. It's about time. Come on.

Let's check the cost to fill up. Pump prices tumbled 7 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The Lundberg Survey says a gallon of self-serve regular will run you an average $2.48 a gallon. It's still too expensive for my taste.

Crude is up $8 a barrel over the same period. So analysts say this round of falling gas prices is getting pretty close to the bottom.

So if your car is short on MPGs, the government will pay you to buy a new one. The Cash for Clunkers program rolling into high gear this week.

Your personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here.

Gerri, good Monday to you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hello.

HARRIS: Finally, finally are we getting some clarity from the dealerships on this program?

WILLIS: You know, it's not the dealerships. It's the federal government that had set this whole thing up. It's really, really complicated. They had to register every dealer in the country.

Now, technically, the program started back on July 1st, but many auto dealers had been reluctant to do these deals until they understood the requirements. On Friday, final rules were published detailing how dealers can get their checks and dispose of cars.

Now, the official name of the program, as you may remember, Tony, the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS for short. Get cars and clunkers out of your brain.

HARRIS: OK.

WILLIS: OK. It goes from July 1st, which has passed already, until November 1st of this year, or until the money runs out. So, anybody who might have already traded in their clunker in the past couple of weeks may still be eligible for a rebate, as long as you're meeting those requirements -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, let's talk about that. Remind us about the program's rules, qualifying rules.

WILLIS: Well, your old car has to be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date. It has to get 18 miles per gallon or less, and it has to be registered or insured under your name for at least a year. And the new car needs to get at least 22 miles per gallon.

The credit will be anywhere from $3,500 to $4,500, and that's based on how many more miles per gallon your new car gets. And you could get more since the program requires the scrapping of your trade- in vehicle. The dealer must disclose to you an estimate, however minimal, of the scrap value of your trade-in. The dealer gets the first $50. You get anything over and above. And this is in addition to the rebate, not in place of it.

Full eligibility requirements, you want to know what they are? Call the car's hotline, 1-866-CAR-7891, or got to the Web, Cars.gov.

HARRIS: I didn't know about the scrapping component.

WILLIS: That's a new part, yes.

HARRIS: Got you.

OK. So, if your car qualifies, what do you need to bring to the dealership to make this happen?

WILLIS: OK. A number one here, you don't have to register. I know there are places on the Web that say you have to register. You don't have to do that. Anywhere or anytime for this program.

However, you'll have to take a lot of stuff to the dealership -- one-year proof of insurance, proof of registration going back at least a year, and you need a clear title. That means your car loan has to be free of any liens. If you have any, you need to get them clear before going to the dealer.

You must also get the vehicle manufacturer date. You'll find it on the driver's door.

Now, if your vehicle doesn't meet those requirements, but you're in the market for a new car, the best thing you can do is wait until the fall to buy new. That's when the new models hit the lot in September, and you'll be able to find great deals on the current year models.

And, of course, if you have any questions about -- have any money questions for us, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com.

HARRIS: Gerri, appreciate it. That's good news.

All right. The program's in high gear.

WILLIS: That's right.

HARRIS: Gerri Willis, your personal finance editor.

WILLIS: Thank you.

HARRIS: And as always, check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis," right there at CNNMoney.com.

Next we go inside the world of unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones. We will show you how these vehicles are creating an unprecedented type of warfare where robots do the killing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The U.S. and China kick off two days of high-level, high-stakes talks in Washington. The trade gap and soaring U.S. Budget deficits among the hot topics between the two economic superpowers. The talks started with remarks by President Obama.

Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty live now from Washington with details.

And boy, you want to talk about a busy agenda -- from climate change, curbing inflation, North Korea. A lot for the delegations of these two countries to talk about, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You name it, really, Tony. That's what they're trying to do. I mean, they say that the relationship up until now really has been a lot of the time focused on economic issues. And those are important, but what they are saying now is they want to broaden the dialogue.

And you had the top officials there, along with President Obama, who opened up this session, and, you know, ,at one point they were actually speaking each other's languages. The Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, was speaking Chinese. And you had Dai Bing Wo (ph), who's the state counselor, who was quoting Barack Obama and saying, "Yes, we can," and bringing down the house. So it was an interesting moment.

But it really is a broad spectrum of issues, as you mentioned -- economics, climate change, clean energy, security, et cetera. And the president making the point that the U.S. and China can be partners in spite of their differences.

Let's listen to how he said it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let us be honest. We know that some are wary of the future. Some in China think that America will try to contain China's ambitions. Some in America think that there is something to fear in a rising China.

I take a different view, and I believe President Hu takes a different view as well. I believe in a future where China is a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations, a future when our nations are partners out of necessity but also out of opportunity. This future is not fixed, but it is a destination that can be reached if we pursue a sustained dialogue like the one that you will commence today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: So, the big issues will be talked about over the next two days, and some of them are serious. You know, you have the question that Geithner brought up about demand, trying to increase demand in China, not have it just be an export company -- country. And also, the U.S. has its own issues, so there are -- there's a lot to talk about -- Tony. HARRIS: Absolutely. Jill Dougherty in Washington for us. Jill, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, we are also keeping a close eye on the Middle East, where tensions are rising over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Israel is suggesting that it won't rule out a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. Israel's defense minister said today his country's taking no option off the table.

The remark comes amid strong overtures from Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has implicitly urged Israel to set aside thoughts of a preemptive strike and give U.S. policy time to work.

The British military claiming victory in flushing the Taliban from parts of Afghanistan. Military officials say Operation Panther's Claw has cleared Taliban fighters from areas of southern Helmand province. The British Ministry of Defense says it will keep some troops in the region. The ministry adds its success in Helmand will allow for a more open vote in next month's national elections.

At least 20 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan this month. A British officer says the Taliban suffered significant casualties.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones, are quickly changing the face of warfare, where the killing is carried out by robots. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson heads to Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, to find out how and why this is happening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Watch these two men in Iraq. They have no idea that they're being hunted by a deadly UAV. It is following their every move, even recording them fire their weapons. They have no idea their insurgent activities have been spotted, and no idea that the UAV operator thousands of miles away is about to fire a missile at them. It's what makes UAVs or drones a must-have for the U.S. military.

GEN. DAVID DEPTULA, U.S. AIR FORCE: The real advantage of unmanned aerial systems is they allow you to project power without projecting vulnerability.

ROBERTSON: This is Creech Air Force Base, where drone pilots remotely fly missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. These pilots saw a surge in mission requests from frontline commanders after weapons were first installed on drones.

COL. CHRIS CHAMBLISS, U.S. AIR FORCE: When you put hellfire missiles on the Predator, now you've got these airplanes that are capable not only of providing the pictures, the full-motion video that you need, but now they're also capable of taking out targets where there may not be any other assets available. ROBERTSON: An estimated 40 or more countries, including China, Russia and Pakistan are also developing drones. Even Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based political party and paramilitary group, has used them against Israel. No one feels the urgency of staying ahead of the competition more than the personnel at Creech Air Force Base.

CHAMBLISS: For right now, we are hanging on to everybody in this system. We've mobilized the Air National Guard, mobilized reservists. If you are assigned to Creech right now, we don't allow you to move out.

ROBERTSON: Already, commanders are considering ways to cut out pilots altogether.

DEPTULA: We're looking at a future where we can program unmanned aerial vehicles to operate autonomously and within groups among themselves.

ROBERTSON (on camera): With weapons?

DEPTULA: With weapons or without weapons.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Unimaginable a few years ago. New weapons appear destined to work with less and less human input.

PETER SINGER, AUTHOR, "WIRED FOR WAR": There's nothing that is a technologic barrier to using armed autonomous systems. And there's -- we think about it as a never, ever, ever thing, and yet it's not the technology that's holding us back. It's trying to figure out the applications of it.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Unmanned technology is here to stay. Wars will never be the same again. If ever there's a moment to borrow a line from a science fiction movie, now is it. Mankind is bodly and irreversibly where man has never been before, towards an uncharted era of warfare.

(voice-over): Nic Robertson, CNN, Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And this just in to CNN. We've got a tornado warning near Tampa. There's the man, our Rob Marciano. Rob, what are you seeing?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A waterspout. We showed you pictures earlier of a waterspout that did some damage yesterday. Today now we have a water spout near the highly populated area of Tampa Bay. So, certainly want to tell you about that. It includes the western Hillsborough County. This waterspout sighted on the Courtney Campbell Causeway, which is the main thoroughfare that connects Pinellas County to Hillsborough County.

And there is that cell that is moving to the east at about 30 -- 15 miles an hour. So, that certainly would include the city of Tampa, for sure. HARRIS: Yes, yes.

MARCIANO: So, those folks certainly want to stay cover. If you're on that causeway, boy, send us a picture but certainly stay out of harm's way. Again, we'll just kind of zoom into this one area where most of that action is happening. This could do some damage, Tony, if it heads inland...

HARRIS: Absolutely.

MARCIANO: ... if it keeps itself together. That cell still well put together north of 275, Courtney Causeway -- Courtney Campbell Causeway heading east at 10 miles an hour. So, be aware if you live in western Hillsborough County. A tornado warning for this waterspout in effect for the next 20 minutes -- Tony.

HARRIS: Good heads up. Thanks, Doc. Appreciate it.

MARCIANO: You bet. All right.

HARRIS: You know, doctors say heat and too much work caused French President Nicolas Sarkozy to collapse while jogging yesterday. He was released from a Paris hospital this morning after a battery of tests. There's the first lady of France, Carla Bruni. All the tests came back normal. Doctors ordered the 54-year-old president to take it easy for the next couple of days.

Decision day is tomorrow for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on her nomination to the Supreme Court. Some Republicans on the panel are backing her, but Senator Jeff Sessions, the committee's senior Republican, says that he will vote against confirmation.

Sessions says in an opinion piece for "USA Today" he doesn't believe Sotomayor can resist, quoting here, "the siren call of judicial activism." Still, with Democrats controlling the Senate, Sotomayor appears headed for confirmation.

It was a huge weekend for comic book and science fiction fans as Comic-Con in San Diego celebrated its 40th anniversary. CNN's Tyson Wheatley -- hello! -- Tyson Wheatley has highlights coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARRIS: 1977, "Star Wars." So, the vampires, super heroes, space travelers and the people who love them, they all joined forces over the weekend at the event Comic-Con. It's the largest comic book and pop culture convention in the world. CNN.com producer Tyson Wheatley joining us now with a taste of -- hey, what did the iReporters see out there? Did you get overwhelmed with some iReports? Hopefully, it was some good stuff.

TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: No, we're always amazed by what iReporters send in. And this is a really big event. You know, this weekend in San Diego, this was Comic-Con's 40th anniversary. And it's pretty much ground zero for all things deculture (ph).

And that's not a slight. I mean, this is really big business. And as you know, the things that are unleashed at Comic-Con typically end up being huge in the mainstream later on. And you know, this is just to give you an idea of what's going on here, 120,000 people flocking to this event. And what we're going to do right now is, we're going to test your pop culture, Tony...

HARRIS: Me? Oh, boy. OK.

WHEATLEY: ... by showing you -- yes -- by showing you some of the iReports that we got. Let's start with some photos from Mark Zhen. He's from Santa Monica.

HARRIS: Right.

WHEATLEY: Now, OK, you know who this is, right?

HARRIS: Oh, yes, yes. That's the late -- he's dressed as the late Heath Ledger from -- yes, yes -- from the "Batman" movie. Don't tell me. I know the answer. You don't have to tell me what the answer is. I know the answer.

(LAUGHTER)

WHEATLEY: Right. Clearly, you know the answer, right, this is the Joker.

HARRIS: Thank you. Jen Cook (ph), don't tell me the answers. I know the answers. This is a test and I want to pass or fail on my own.

WHEATLEY: Let's keep them going. Let's keep them going.

HARRIS: All right.

WHEATLEY: We've got a lot of photos to share.

Do you know who this is?

HARRIS: Yes, that's from one of the "Alien Vs. Predator" movies, right?

WHEATLEY: Right, that's Predator.

HARRIS: Right, that's a Predator, right, right.

WHEATLEY: OK. What have we got? What's the next one?

HARRIS: Oh, I have no idea. What the heck is -- what is that?

WHEATLEY: All right. So, well, someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is Green Lantern.

HARRIS: Green Lantern?

WHEATLEY: Yes, yes. And a friend.

HARRIS: OK.

WHEATLEY: Two Green Lanterns.

I'll just be upfront. I have no idea what this is.

HARRIS: That's cute.

WHEATLEY: OK.

What have we got? Got another one?

HARRIS: Oh, those are the storm troopers, right, from...

WHEATLEY: Oh, a little scary. Yes.

HARRIS: Yes, those are the storm troopers from "Star Wars."

WHEATLEY: They've been beaten up a little bit.

HARRIS: Who's the guy on the right? I'm not...

WHEATLEY: I'm not sure.

HARRIS: All right.

WHEATLEY: OK, this is -- you know who this is?

HARRIS: You know, I do, but it's not a -- it's not a...

WHEATLEY: Cobra? Cobra commander?

HARRIS: Oh, no, no, no. That's not what I was thinking at all.

WHEATLEY: There's a new G.I. Joe movie coming out this summer.

HARRIS: OK, OK.

WHEATLEY: And I think we've got a couple more here. We'll just go through them pretty quickly.

HARRIS: You know, as I watch all this, all I can tell you is, I'm reminded of the Kool Mo Dee song "The Freaks Come Out at Night," but I guess at Comic-Con, it's all day and all night.

OK. All right. What is this?

WHEATLEY: You know what? Can we go ahead and check out some of this -- we've got some zombie -- a zombie video, actually.

HARRIS: Right.

WHEATLEY: This is -- you know, Comic-Con's really become this place for Hollywood that can start hyping their upcoming films. You know, there's a new film coming out. It's called "Zombieland." And they did this zombie walk. This is the kind of thing that you can expect to see at Comic-Con. I've never been. I really hope to go some day. It really looks like (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: All right, so it's Whodini, not Kool Mo Dee, "The Freaks Come Out at Night."

WHEATLEY: You know, we want to thank all of our iReporters who sent in these amazing photos and video. And you know, you can go to ireport.com and check it out. It's really great stuff.

HARRIS: All right. Tyson, appreciate it. That's good stuff.

All right. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, astonishing new numbers today on home sales. We dig deeper, coming up next with CNN's Gerri Willis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Boy, figures just out show an 11 percent jump in new home sales. Is this a sign that the housing market is starting to really bounce back here? We had to have our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, weigh in on this. Come on, now. Gerri, if you would, break the numbers down for us.

WILLIS: Absolutely. Well, you said the headline here, new home sales for June up 11 percent to 384,000. Now, guess what? Wall Street was surprised by this. They had expected the increase to be about 2 percent. So, even Wall Street, who watches this very closely, got surprised.

This is the largest increase in nearly nine years, and so it comes as a very big positive result for people watching these numbers. And I want to tell you, you know, new home sales, that's really a small part of the market. So, let's look at what's been going on in the big part of the market, existing home sales.

Existing home sales have been up for three straight months. Look at these numbers. OK, April, May, June, you see a building effect going on here as there are more and more home sales. And even, you know, when you drill down into these markets, Las Vegas, a market that's really been hit by this crash, it had its highest sales since 2006, the height of the boom in June. So, you're seeing a real rebound here in sales. They're increasing. They're going up.

HARRIS: OK. OK.

WILLIS: So, good news.

HARRIS: Yes. And that was my next question. Is it all positive news here?

WILLIS: Well, OK, so, we have to put this in context a little bit, right? So, is the housing market in recovery? Well, it may be darn close. I called Mark Zandi this morning. He's an economist. You've probably had him on your show, works for economy.com. He says the coast is not clear yet. And so, sit back and think about this for a second. Most of these sales, many of these sales, are foreclosures. And the Vegas numbers I cited before, 70 percent of those sales were foreclosure sales. So, these are bargain-basement prices. Existing home price, the median price right now is $181,800, down 15 percent from a year ago.

So, we're coming off the bottom. We're establishing that bottom. Zandi says he wants to see the president's plan really get traction here for modifying loans. That would really help the market increase.

And, of course, if job loss was to stabilize, if we were to have an improvement in the jobs market, that would really contribute to making this a better marketplace. But it's frankly predicted to go south, to have unemployment rates of 10 percent.

So, we could continue to see headwinds for the housing market, but the fact that you're seeing some recovery here in sales, and of course, we still have that tax credit of $8,000 for first-time homebuyers, that's going to continue, but only until later this year. So, you know, we're still watching to make sure that this market is going to recover, but some good news today.

HARRIS: Eleven percent.

WILLIS: I know you like to hear good news.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. If you're talking 11 percent, 11 percent is 11 percent. If you're talking about folks buying these foreclosures that at least, well, they get some of that excess supply off the market. And that's a good thing to have, right?

WILLIS: Right. you want to reduce inventory because that's one of the things that is hamstringing this market that there's so many houses on the market for people to choose from. And frankly, well, the banks are in the way, too, because lending is still not back.

HARRIS: We'll take that as a good-good today. All right, Gerri, appreciate it. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: You know, we are waiting for a live news conference by police in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Presumably, it will deal with last week's arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and the national conversation it generated on racial profiling. The White House says today Gates and the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, with meet with President Obama. That is happening sometime this week.

Also in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, while Washington debates health care, a free clinic sets a record. We will take you to the clinic that was forced to turn away sick patients over the weekend, too many to help.

Plus, the stimulus package was billed as an emergency lifeline for troubled cities, but some say it is taking too long. Jim Acosta talks with one of its toughest critics. And what's in the stimulus package for home builders? Allan Chernoff looks at the government contracts now open for bidding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And very quickly, we want to take you out to Reseda, California. We've got a warehouse fire going on right now. We don't have a lot of information. Don't at this point know how it started. We don't know if anyone's inside, if anyone is potentially hurt in all of this.

But it's burning pretty hot right now and a lot of smoke as you can see. Some flames coming through the roof, which is an indication certainly that there is a fire inside the structure as well. Firefighters are certainly working the scene.

And we're making calls on it right now. Just want to make sure that everyone got out of the structure OK, no injuries. We don't know -- oh, live pictures right now from our affiliate in Los Angeles, KTLA. Boy, as you take a closer look, that roof took some significant damage as you can see. But we're making calls to find out if everyone made it out OK. We will keep an eye on this story for you.

She is citizen Palin today. With her resignation now official, Alaska's headline-grabbing governor moves on. A lucrative book deal, the Republican speech circuit, perhaps -- well, just perhaps 2012? Here's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley with politics, Palin style.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She is a one-woman sound bite machine.

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: By the way, Hollywood needs to know we eat, therefore we hunt.

CROWLEY: A warning from the moose-hunting, fish-catching Sarah Palin that Hollywood wants to take away the right to bear arms, an unexpected topic for a farewell speech. As Palin handed over the Alaska governorship, the wear, tear and resentment of the year on the big stage were evident.

Her parting words, a parting shot at the media.

PALIN: So, how about in honor of the American soldier, you quit making things up.

CROWLEY: Palin's farewell was a three-day rolling picnic from Wasilla to Anchorage to Fairbanks surrounded by supporters dreaming big.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we get a woman president, let it be her. She's a real woman. She knows about what a woman is supposed to be. She's pro-life, she's pro-family, she's pro-woman.

CROWLEY: It was not all friendly going. Palin has lost some of her light in Alaska and a lot of it on the national stage.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: She abandoned her state in the middle of a term. They didn't ask for her to run.

CROWLEY: The latest ABC/"Washington Post" poll found that 53 percent of Americans view Palin negatively. Forty percent see her positively. Worse, four in ten Republicans don't think Palin understands complex issues.

Still, she wouldn't be the first politician to rehabilitate herself. And it's clear while she's handing over the governor's chair, she's not relinquishing the microphone.

PALIN: Know with this decision now, I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right and for truth.

CROWLEY: Palin's writing a book. She says she'll help other candidates. She'll give speeches. And one of her first post-governor events is at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. She could make good money doing all of that. She could also be on a path at least to 2012. It's called keeping your options open.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I just asked her that about five minutes ago. And she -- you want to know what she said? She said, I don't know, with her little smirk.

CROWLEY: One thing is crystal clear. Sarah Palin, private citizen, sounds a lot like Sarah Palin, politician.

PALIN: And one other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family, too, so leave his kids alone.

CROWLEY: Exit stage right, but definitely don't fade to black.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All right, all right. Palin, Palin, Palin. We've heard a ton about the woman who' leaving office. But who's the new governor of Alaska? Nicole Lapin has been looking into that. What did you find?

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have to be honest here. I didn't find a whole lot. We found some stuff. He's been called, Tony, a competent conservative...

HARRIS: Oh, my.

LAPIN: ... whatever that means.

HARRIS: OK.

LAPIN: In 2006, he campaigned on the theme "Alaskans free of fear, Alaskans with hope and opportunity." He has come out and said he shares many of the same Republican core values as Sarah Palin. A difference may be, though, Tony, in the way he communicates with the state lawmakers.

The state's Democratic House minority leader has already communicated that Parnell does play well with the leaders. Basically, he communicates with them effectively and inclusively. For instance, before announcing that he wanted to expand a special session next month, he contacted them first, which they liked.

An issue that might not go away is the ethics reform in the state. He's already asking the state's attorney general to recommend ways to stop people from leaking confidential information for ethics investigations. He said this, quote, "If we allow public officials to be tried and convicted in the press through the abuse of the legal process, then the executive branch is at risk. The rule of law is threatened."

As for the man behind the politician, Tony, that we saw take over for Palin yesterday, he's been married for 21 years.

HARRIS: OK.

LAPIN: He has two daughters.

HARRIS: Lovely.

LAPIN: I dug around. Not a lot of personal info out there yet. He has a Facebook page.

HARRIS: He does?

LAPIN: He has about 500 followers, which is a lot less than most politicians, but give him some time. It still says lieutenant governor there. He has to update that. But one day on the job, let's give him time. We'll be checking in with him, no doubt.

HARRIS: He just needs to be an effective advocate for the people, the good people of Alaska, correct?

LAPIN: You got it.

HARRIS: Nicole, appreciate it. Thank you.

All right. Once again, we are waiting for a news conference to begin any moment now from Cambridge, Massachusetts, the police department putting on this news conference. We presume it will deal in some measure with the controversy involving police Sergeant James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.

As you know, Gates had accused Crowley of racism. Crowley arrested Gates in a confrontation at Gates's home in Cambridge. President Obama entered the controversy and then wanted to immediately take back some of the comments that he had made. Our Elaine Quijano will join us from the phone with more on this story.